Update 2 | Malta reaches EC agreement on trapping, BirdLife questions legal changes

Malta will open a trapping season for golden plover and song thrush after reaching an agreement with the European Commission. 

Malta was told it could not derogate from the EU’s ban on trapping of finches after it lost a case in the European Court of Justice earlier this year. 

But parliamentary secretary for animal welfare Clint Camilleri said that as long as Malta respects the conditions of the derogation from the Birds Directives, it would be addressing the Commission’s “serious doubts” when it made a reasoned opinion on the trapping of plover and thrush back in 2012. 

“We understand the Commission had the intention of proceeding with the case against Malta if we applied the derogation according to the parameters which have been used in previous years,” Camilleri said. 

Camilleri said that according its agreement with the EC, Malta will reduce the amount of live capturing stations from two to one per trapper, with a national quota of 5,000 song thrush and 700 golden plover. For the first time ever, the trapping stations will be registered and made public on the website of the Wild Birds Regulation Unit, but trappers’ identities will remain private. 

More resources for enforcement will be allocated according to different zones. The mesh of nets will have to enlarged from 30mm to a minimum 45mm, to allow the release of smaller birds, and nets will have to be covered or removed when the trappers leaves the site. 

Camilleri said Malta will respect the ECJ decision of July 2018 and that discussions were held with the EC on the principles of the judgement and the Commission’s considerations before applying the derogation for trapping golden plover and song thrush. 

“These discussions have reaped fruits, and this led us to an agreement about a number of principles particularly regarding selectivity, transparency, limited derogation, and also enforcement. We understand the arguments put forward about selectivity where the primary aim is that during this season only golden plover and song thrush are captured.” 

“We believed that with reasoned effort, we could reach an agreement... these parameters are to be observed and we are insisting on compliance with these measures.”

Asked why the legal notice had not yet been made public, Camilleri said that negotiations with the European Commission had only been concluded last week, and were approved by Cabinet on Tuesday.

The legal notice will be published on Friday.

Camilleri was also asked whether it made sense for the legal notice to be published on Friday, given that licenses and rings have already been distributed.

“When licenses were issued we had made it clear that this did not necessarily mean that the season would be opened,” Camilleri said, adding that they had been distributed for administrative reasons as authorities would not have had enough time to process all paperwork at the last second.

BirdLife reaction

In their reaction, conservationists BirdLife Malta said they had written to the Commission to request information on the discussions it had held with the Maltese government, saying it was a known fact that the EC never agrees deals on derogations with countries but only asks for justification after these are implemented.

“BirdLife Malta is satisfied that following the landmark European Court of Justice judgement delivered in June, there will be no finch trapping this year, and that this issue has been done and dusted at this point. We do believe the European Commission might have been taken for a ride if the Maltese government promised it can control the quotas and ensure they are not surpassed.

“This is already a concern for the EC and we expect it to remain a concern which could lead the infringement process against Malta to continue in regard to this derogation. On the other hand we are pleased to note that after years of requesting the list of registered trapping locations, this has now been made public. This data will be scrutinised to understand the implications of trapping on various habitats including also public and private land.”

FKNK satisfied with agreement  

In a reaction, the FKNK said it was satisfied with the agreement, adding that Camilleri, in his meetings in the Commission, had succeeded in “addressing the serious doubts the Commission itself had in 2012”.

“Had this agreement not have been reached, the Commission intended to open further proceedings against Malta,” the FKNK said.

Having already had a number of meetings with Camilleri, the FKNK said it would continue working to address issues that affect its members, including issues with fines, the rules on the hunting of wild rabbits.

The FKNK also said it wanted to address the issue of Maltese and Gozitan hunters feeling “disadvantaged when compared to other hunters and trapper across the EU” and the use of equipment was permitted in other member states.

“At the same time, and despite that it is aware of, and understands, the sadness within the trapping community, the FKNK insists on the absolute observance of the rules, even with respect to the good work done by the parliamentary secretary,” it said.

Moreover, it said that all illegal activity would to continue to hinder attempts at progress and to prove the hunters’ credibility.